


Buried in the Snow (I Kept Warm Inside of Your Clothes)

by pancake2



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Bad Weather, Car trouble as described by a person who does not understand cars, Caretaking, Crush at First Sight, Dancer!Victor, Don't copy to another site, First Meetings, Fluff, Gift Exchange, M/M, Pancakes, Pianist!Yuuri, YOI Secret Skater 2019, also do not try this if you are stranded alone in Russia in a snow storm, do not try this at home, everything turns out fine cuz this is fanfic tho, it's okay because the characters don't understand them either, rescuing, stranger danger, this fic has it all, very mild peril
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-11
Updated: 2020-01-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:01:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22224523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pancake2/pseuds/pancake2
Summary: Trying to make his way home through the night in the middle of a blizzard, thelastthing Yuuri needed was for his car to break down, with no obvious solution and no other people in sight. But when rescue came in the form of a gorgeous stranger, maybe he would realize his luck hadn't quite run out after all.
Relationships: Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov
Comments: 16
Kudos: 134
Collections: Yuri!!! on Ice Secret Skater 2019





	Buried in the Snow (I Kept Warm Inside of Your Clothes)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SilentAvera](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilentAvera/gifts).



> this is my YOI Secret Skater 2019 gift for SilentAvera! i want to thank you a million times for your patience in waiting for this gift, it took longer than i expected but i wanted to make sure it was the very best it could be <3 tried to combine a few of the things from your wishlist, with protectiveness (though it turned a bit more into rescuing/care taking), and softness, and falling (a little bit) in love at first sight! i hope you enjoy it!!! <3 <3 <3
> 
> title comes from [Terrible Storm by Tegan and Sara](https://youtu.be/eJE1C87FblI)! the whole song doesn't really fit this story, but that line was just too good to pass up!

Snow swirled viciously through the sky; big, wet flakes that were mesmerizing as they danced before the car, illuminated brightly in the headlights. It would almost be a pretty sight, if Yuuri wasn’t fighting so hard to avoid falling victim to highway hypnosis. The late hour probably did not help him in this fight.

The snow had started not long after Yuuri had begun his overnight drive, but with no plans or budget for a hotel, he’d decided to push forward anyway. If he kept on course, even with the snow, he figured he’d be back to his dorm possibly before the sun even rose. (Although the late timing of Nordic winter sunrises certainly would lend a helping hand there.) 

His confidence began to wane when more and more cars seemed to disappear, until he found himself entirely alone for stretch after stretch of road. He’d had to reduce his speed quite some time ago, when the snow piling up on the road had made it difficult to move forward without feeling like the car would end up spinning out at any moment. That, in addition to the fact that midnight had long since passed, likely accounted for the state of solitude he’d inadvertently found himself in.

Still, he pressed on, with no other options at his disposal. Even if he had to inch along on empty roads for his entire journey, he’d be making it regardless.

The alarming noise occurred somewhere around two in the morning, if the dashboard clock was correct. It was some sort of hellish _screeching_ , seeming to come from directly in front of where Yuuri was seated and vibrating intensely throughout all the walls around him. And then the car had slowed, despite Yuuri’s foot still being pressed to the gas. And it kept slowing. And _slowing_.

Yuuri’s heart rate skyrocketed as his sleep-deprived brain finally recognized what was happening, with barely enough time to pull the car onto the shoulder before it came to a complete stop. In desperation, he pressed his foot to the gas pedal again, like maybe it would suddenly work even though it hadn’t just moments before. Not even a sound. He checked the fuel gauge, frantically worrying that maybe he hadn’t paid attention to its level and had let it slip too far down, but the needle still rested comfortably above half a tank.

A cold sweat started at the back of Yuuri’s neck as the gravity of the situation sank in.

Something was wrong with the car. He had no idea what that might be. And he knew nothing about how to fix a car. This wasn’t even _his_ car, he had borrowed it from a classmate for this weekend trip.

He hadn’t seen another soul in well over an hour. He wasn’t really sure exactly where he was, besides a general _mid-nowhere Russia_. He thought there was a chance he might be somewhere roughly near St. Petersburg, but not nearly close enough that this particular stretch of road would be populated any time soon, late as it was, and in the middle of a blizzard no less.

And there was that. The blizzard. It hadn’t let up since it’d begun hours ago, and the snow banks at the edge of the road were beginning to look treacherous. A disconcerting thought hit him: _Oh fuck, what if the car got snowed in?_

Yuuri squeezed his eyes shut and started muttering a little mantra his therapist had given him to try and ward off the worries creeping into the crevices of his mind. If there was ever a time he needed to avoid a panic attack, this would be it.

He could figure this out. It would be fine. _He_ would be fine.

His phone. That would help. He could call for a tow truck, or see where he was, or look up how to fix the problem… _If his phone wasn’t dead. Shit._

_It’s okay. You can figure this out. It will be okay._

The thoughts were less believable this time around, but he stuffed his phone into his coat pocket regardless. It was only going to make him fret more if it was somewhere he could see it.

Realizing he was getting down to his last few options, he reached over to his bag in the passenger seat, grabbing his beanie and tugging it down until it nearly covered his eyes. He zipped up his coat that he had left open while he’d been driving, thankful it went up high enough to cover his chin. He was as ready as he’d ever be, so he took a deep breath, grasped the handle, and pried open the door. It nearly slammed shut in his face from the force of the wind, but he managed to shoulder it open, only to be smacked in the face with a million tiny pinpricks of ice, like the sky was throwing shrapnel at him.

He shuffled through the snowbank towards the back of the car, doing his best to swallow the fear that came boiling up when he saw that the tires were already starting to get swallowed up by the rapidly rising layer of snow. He couldn’t think about that right now. He needed to focus. So instead, he set to popping the trunk open, beginning to dig through it in search of a toolbox.

_If I drive through the night, I won’t need another night in a hotel, and I can avoid the daytime traffic and get back faster._

Yuuri cursed at his earlier thoughts that were tauntingly replaying in his head as he shuffled through the trunk of his tiny borrowed car. Did it matter that he had no idea what he’d do if he even found a toolbox? _No_. He was going to try his damnedest to look for one anyway. It wasn’t like he had a more promising solution

When several minutes of crouching and pushing seats up and down amounted to nothing beyond the discovery of a single thin blanket, an ice scraper, and a few dozen loose pieces of sheet music, he slammed the trunk and the back doors shut, and threw himself back into the driver’s seat. It was only once he was back in the warmth of the car that he realized his teeth were chattering.

Alright. So fixing the car was out of the question.

That left his options to… Sleeping in the car and hoping he didn’t get buried in the snow and freeze to death. _Fantastic_.

_Or_ , it occurred to him suddenly, he could try to flag down a passing car for help. That was, _if_ another car passed, which certainly did not seem likely, given the precedent. But… that was a hope Yuuri _needed_ to hang onto, however impossible. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to keep himself from hyperventilating if he didn’t.

Focusing on surviving that first option seemed a little more dire though, so he reached over to shuffle through the small bag he had packed for this weekend trip he was heading back from. He was already wearing his last clean change of clothes, but slightly dirty couldn’t have mattered less if that meant he had more layers to pile on. He couldn’t keep the car running forever, if the fuel tank or the battery ran completely out, he’d certainly be in even deeper shit than he already was. Which meant he was going to have to turn himself into a marshmallow of pre-worn clothing in order to maintain a safe body temperature. It wasn’t even a question that he was willing to make such a sacrifice, especially in the presence of exactly zero other humans.

As he set to untangling the balled up shirts he’d shoved into his bag with the intent of only seeing them again the next time he did laundry, he took a cautious glance at the gauges on the dashboard. He’d drained quite a bit of fuel just by running the heat like this, and he knew he really shouldn’t leave it on much longer. The thought made his mind swim though; he was not yet ready to succumb to the idea of spending the night in a freezing car. Plus, killing the headlights also would kill any chance at a passing car noticing his peril. He was not ready to let go of that elusive hope. Despite the dashboard clock claiming that nearly half an hour had already passed since he’d become stranded, and there hadn’t been so much as the hint of another vehicle. It didn’t matter, he needed to hang on.

To quell the concern, he left the engine on for the time being, and set to removing his coat, so that he could begin to put on every single shirt that he had with him. He’d only just pulled the first sleeve off when he saw it something in the rear-view mirror. Something _glowing_.

_Headlights!_

In the most frantic few seconds of his life, Yuuri absolutely _flung_ himself from the car, nearly slipping on the ice and sending himself sprawling into the road as he scrambled to rush in front of his own car, where the headlights would illuminate him. His coat was still half off, and wound up acting almost as a flag as he desperately waved his arms above his head, pleading to whatever higher powers might be out there that this person would have the mercy to stop.

Someone or something out there must have been listening, (even if that someone was only this other driver) because to Yuuri’s intense relief, the car began to slow. He hadn’t even realized how much tension had built up in his shoulders until it was melting at the sight of the first sign of human life he’d seen in hours.

The sound of the other car’s tires crunching to a stop in the snow was quite possibly the most beautiful thing Yuuri had ever heard in his life. He was just about shaking by the time the driver’s side door opened, and someone began to step out.

And _oh_.

There he was, Yuuri’s savior – a tall man wrapped in a long, dark trench coat, with bright silver hair that nearly sparkled in the lights cast upon him, and as he approached, Yuuri could just barely start to make out his features illuminated in the dim light. Most of his chin was hidden by a blue scarf wrapped tightly around his neck, but above it the lines of his face were sharp, with high cheekbones and an aquiline nose and… eyebrows that were tightly knit together. Yuuri managed to blink himself out of his trance and notice that this beautiful man who had come to save his life was _concerned_ , and maybe that should have been expected, but everything else about him was just so _distracting_ , and-

_Oh. Oh now the gorgeous stranger was talking to him. With an unfairly deep and smooth voice. In what must be Russian. Shit._

“I, uh,” Yuuri stuttered out, “English?” It was a vain hope, but one Yuuri desperately wanted to cling to, and somewhere behind the panic over his one chance at being helped out of this peril possibly crumbling right before him, he knew it was for more than just that one reason.

“Are you alright?” the stranger switched easily, and Yuuri could only assume it was a repetition of what he’d said in Russian.

The familiar sounds hit Yuuri like a punch, knocking all the emotions out of him that had been so solidly frozen inside by fear and snow. He barely felt as tears began streaming down his face, his cheeks already too cold to distinguish the feeling from that of the flakes of ice that kept up their persistent vortex. They blurred his vision, though, and the gasping breaths he found himself taking felt like the first ones he’d managed since the car had stopped. All at once a river of emotions was pouring out of him, everything that had been bottled up in his attempt to keep calm while he was alone.

Seeming alarmed, the stranger’s gloved hands went up, towards Yuuri just a bit but with fingers curling in on his own palms, like he wanted to reach out but felt unsure. His mouth wavered, likely searching for comforting words, but not quite finding them.

“You’re crying,” was what Yuuri heard next, an oddly factual statement, but stiff with concern.

On reflex, a humorless laugh ripped its way from Yuuri’s lips. It was such a ridiculous comment, one that would almost _actually_ be funny if Yuuri was in a less dire and frazzling situation.

“Yeah, I… yeah,” he managed, trying to regain control of his breathing. The tears were more out of relief than anything, now that this man was here and speaking a shared language, but he still felt embarrassed to be having such an outburst in front of someone he’d only just met. Someone _gorgeous_ he’d only just met. There was no way this behavior was making the stranger return such thoughts.

“What happened?” the man asked, seeming to realize that pointing out how much of a mess Yuuri was was not helping anything.

“I was just… _driving_ , I don’t even know what I did! And then it made this sound like,” Yuuri gave his best recreation of the sound the car had made, making the stranger jump in response to the hisses and strangled screech that he pulled from his memory. “And then the engine just _stopped_. I barely had time to get it off the road.”

The explanation was met with a stunned expression, and he watched as silver eyebrows reached for the man’s hairline. (They didn’t exactly make it, with a large forehead between them and their apparent destination. Yuuri was too exhausted to bother to try and parse why his mind logged that characteristic as _beautiful_.)

Without another word, the man raised a hand and pointed just over Yuuri’s shoulder, startled features still frozen on his face. Yuuri knit his brows in confusion, unsure of what he could possibly be motioning towards. Still, though, he turned to look, and horror began anew when he saw that the shocked reaction must not have been to the explanation, but instead to _the car turning off on its own_.

Yuuri threw himself back at the car, urgently seizing the handle and ripping the door open to get at the ignition. He yanked the keys in every possible direction, pleading with the universe to let the car turn back on. His stomach plummeted when his efforts were met only with silence, and he let out a despairing cry as he slammed a fist against the steering wheel in frustration. Even with help now by his side, the complete shutting down of the car was enough to make Yuuri’s mind feel like it would do the same.

“Hey,” a soft voice broke through his sinking thoughts, gentle enough to weave through the murk and grab Yuuri’s attention long enough to make him open his eyes and turn his attention to the man standing next to the still-open door. He was holding a hand out, an offering, warm and inviting in the frightening and icy night. Yuuri’s own hand shook as he took it, allowing the man to help him stand, and still hanging on for a moment after. When their hands did part, Yuuri tried not to think about how his hand felt even more gelid than it had before.

“What can I do to help?”

Yuuri wished he knew. He just gave a heavy shrug, too ignorant about cars to even know what to suggest might help.

“Have you looked at the engine?”

Yuuri shook his head, feeling blood rush to his cheeks as it occurred to him that maybe that should have been an obvious first step. He had to be making quite the impression, and he knew it was silly to get so worried over that with someone who he would likely never see again after this, but the thought was horribly embarrassing.

He busied himself with searching for the lever to open the hood, immensely grateful that he could remember watching his parents do so on their own car back home and knew one small thing to make himself look competent at driving. Soon enough, he found it and pulled, letting out a breath he’d scarcely felt holding when he heard the pop of the hood releasing. He climbed back out to push it up the rest of the way, but only stared blankly at the contents once it was open. He had no idea what he was looking at, and surely could not tell right from wrong enough to know if the problem was even visible at all.

The stranger came up beside him, peering in as well, and Yuuri could only hope he had any sort of idea what they were looking at. Maybe he would see what was wrong, and know that it was an easy fix, and then Yuuri would be back on his way, through the night, away from this man he couldn’t understand why he felt so drawn to after so little time and so few shared words. It’d be as if nothing had even happened. It’d be fine.

“That is… definitely an engine,” was the next thing the man said, and Yuuri’s head whipped towards him in astonishment.

“Do you… not know anything about cars either?”

“Haven’t a clue.”

Yuuri just blinked at him for several seconds, in an attempt to process the disconnect between his train of thought and the reality he’d just been presented with.

And then without a thought, almost like breathing, he burst into laughter. Real, genuine laughter this time, when the ridiculousness of the situation fought past the panic. The laughter felt so _good_ , as it worked its way through his body like a medicine, curing and clearing all his tension and worry. And then the stranger started to laugh as well, something at a much higher pitch than his smooth and dulcet voice, and Yuuri was struck again by a feeling of being far too enamored by such an odd trait.

“I’m, ah,” the stranger tried to speak between laughs, “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I suggested that when I don’t even know what to do. It just… sounded right?” If Yuuri could afford himself another disbelief, he would have sworn he saw color come to the man’s face, but it was probably just from the cold, or a trick of the low lighting.

“Would you like to come sit in my car to figure this out? It’s freezing out here,” the man offered after a moment, gesturing vaguely to where his car was still running behind them.

Yuuri found himself nodding exaggeratedly, then trailing after him, not even being hit by the realization that he was about to get into a _stranger’s car_ until his hand was on the door handle. He stared down at it for a moment, vaguely aware that he was the only one still out in the cold now. Somewhere in his mind, he knew that blindly following a stranger into their own space, especially a mobile one, was probably not among the brightest of ideas. Yet in this particular situation, he somehow already found himself feeling _safe_ , somewhere between this man’s generosity and the way Yuuri was already so quickly drawn to him, to the strong lines of his face and to the warm sound of his voice-

“It’s unlocked,” he heard suddenly, only just realizing that the window in front of him had rolled down.

“O-oh, right!” Yuuri stammered out, fumbling with the handle until he managed to get the door open so he could slip inside.

This would be fine. His alternative was freezing into a block of ice inside a broken down car that would soon just be part of the snowbank, so really, this was actually _safer_. He just needed to keep that in mind, and he would be able to stay calm. The fact that he didn’t actually know a thing about this man, not even his _name_ , wasn’t a problem at all-

“I’m Victor, by the way, just realized I hadn’t mentioned that yet,” came a sudden interjection to Yuuri’s thoughts.

_Well. That answered that._

“Yuuri,” he replied softly, brain still a little foggy.

It took him a moment longer to see that the stranger’s – _Victor’s_ – hand was stretched out for him to shake, which felt like a bit of an oddly stiff and formal greeting for someone who’s car Yuuri was already inside, but still so kind that Yuuri couldn’t just leave him waiting.

When Yuuri took his hand, it was surprisingly warm, especially given the frigid temperatures they’d just been in. Yuuri wondered briefly what kind of gloves he had that managed that, or if this man was just _always_ warm, even in the dead of winter. His mind dwelled on that possibility for a long moment, wandering to how warm _other_ parts of him might be, how it might feel to be wrapped up beside him, in the curve of his arm… The train of thought was just long enough for Yuuri to only realize after it passed that he’d been holding onto Victor’s hand for what was probably an excessive amount of time. He dropped it quickly, whipping his head around to stare down at his own knees and bury his chin in his coat, like that might hide his blunder. Maybe it would at least hide his blushing over it.

Despite the embarrassment though, Yuuri somehow managed to mumble something mostly into his coat collar, about how his phone had died and he hoped he could borrow Victor’s in order to call for help. Victor had been immediately compliant, quickly pulling his phone from his pocket and whisking through the screens to open his web browser and search for what Yuuri had to assume were local car mechanics. The next thing Yuuri knew, the phone was being pressed in front of him, with a result pulled up on the screen.

“This looks like the only one open right now,” Victor explained briefly as he released the phone into Yuuri’s hand.

As he stared at the screen, another important obstacle became evident: the entire page was in Cyrillic. The panic from that first moment when Victor was speaking to him in Russian started to rise in the back of Yuuri’s throat again, worried now that calling anyone would be hopeless if he couldn’t even communicate with them to begin with.

Luckily, though, Victor seemed to realize his reason for distress just as quickly, and reached over to take the phone again, offering to call in Yuuri’s stead. Yuuri couldn’t have nodded faster if he’d tried.

Yuuri found himself getting lost in the sound of the other man’s voice as he spoke into the phone, the way it wrapped so beautifully around the foreign sounds, almost sounding a step deeper than it had been when he’d been speaking English. This distraction was so strong that Yuuri nearly missed when Victor slipped back into English to ask him questions about the car. He managed more stuttered answers perhaps a second too late, but if Victor was suspicious of anything, he kept quiet. Yuuri was eternally grateful for that, as well as for the darkness enveloping them that helped to hide how red his face certainly was.

When Victor finished the call, he gave a short comment to let Yuuri know that help would be arriving in hopefully half an hour, and then they both quickly fell into an odd silence. It was only then that Yuuri finally took in just how _nice_ this car was, cleaned pristinely and at least a decade newer than the borrowed car Yuuri had been spending the weekend in. There were buttons and a screen glowing brightly on the dashboard, all markedly more advanced than anything Yuuri had ever been in. It made him start to feel a bit out of place, as if just taking up someone else’s space and time in the middle of the night shouldn’t have already been doing that.

He didn’t have too long to stew in his own emotions though, as Victor’s voice cut into his thoughts, in a clear attempt to reach through the silence. Maybe he’d been feeling awkward as well.

“So… what had you out in the middle of the night in a Russian snowstorm, anyway?”

“Being stubborn,” Yuuri huffed out a laugh at himself. “Thought I could save myself another night in a hotel and drive home through the night. As you can see, it’s gone quite well.”

Victor hummed for a moment in sympathy. “Well, I’m glad I came across you, this would be awful to spend the night in.”

Yuuri nodded, still staring anywhere but Victor’s direction. His gaze caught on his stalled car, and the moderate mountain of snow already built up on top of it. An echo of the fear from earlier passed through him with a tremor, followed by such a warm wash of relief that he feared he just might cry. Again. Oh, he _did not_ need to cry in front of Victor again. Once was plenty.

So instead of thanking him like Yuuri knew he should, knew he _wanted_ to, he shoved the thought down for later when he wouldn’t be on the verge of tears, and did his best to pass the conversation back to Victor’s end. “And _you_ are out here right now because…?”

“Took a friend to the airport, she had a red-eye flight,” Victor answered nonchalantly, as if he either didn’t notice Yuuri’s awkwardness, or just didn’t even mind. Yuuri could only hope for the latter.

Their conversation quickly petered out from there, but somehow, with just a few shared bits of information (and maybe also the comfortable warmth of the car setting him at ease) this quiet didn’t feel nearly so awkward as the first. After a moment, Victor also set the radio to play softly, which served a great effort in filling the space and the time. It scarcely felt like much time had even passed when a new set of headlights appeared on the horizon, soon revealing itself to be the tow truck that had been called for. If Yuuri had stopped himself to think, he might have been shocked at how it had slipped by so quickly after all his earlier worry, but for once, his thoughts didn’t bother to dwell on this particular concern.

The mechanic who had come to help them appeared to discover the source of the car’s issue quite promptly, rattling off something in Russian after just a few short moments of poking around with a flashlight. Victor tried to convey her words back to Yuuri, but admitted (almost shyly, Yuuri dared to consider) that he wasn’t even sure what some of them meant in Russian, let alone what a translation might be. He _did,_ however, understand enough to explain that it was something she would have to take Yuuri’s car back to her shop to fix, and would hopefully have it ready in the morning. (He also mentioned the cost she was estimating for her services, and Yuuri did his best to immediately shove that deep into a _deal with this later_ folder within his mind.)

With a business card he couldn’t hope to read on his own in hand, Yuuri watched as his borrowed car was loaded up onto the truck, then driven off to lands unknown. That would be great fun to explain to the classmate he’d borrowed it from — as soon as his phone had battery again, anyway. But that was for later.

The car taken care of, Yuuri’s mind moved to his next immediate concern: how exactly he was going to bide his time until he could finally finish his drive home. He’d already lacked a budget to cover a hotel room _before_ he’d been told he needed to shell out a pretty penny for car repairs, but that seemed to be his only option now. Maybe Victor would know where an inexpensive hotel was, and… _Yuuri would still have to get there, somehow, shit._ The obvious solution was to ask Victor for a ride, but Yuuri felt like he’d already imposed himself so much on him, forcing him to spend close to an hour out in the cold in the middle of nowhere, when he probably just wanted to go home and sleep, and it just wouldn’t be right to ask for yet _another_ favor… But what other route could he take? His phone was still dead, his own transportation was gone, and staying in the dead car hadn’t even been a viable option _before_ it had been taken off. All he could do was shove past the guilt, and ask Victor-

“Well, I suppose we should get going,” Victor’s voice cut into Yuuri’s spiral, sending his mind screeching to a halt.

Yuuri blinked at him for a moment, trying to parse the words. A soft, “What?” left his mouth, barely registering in his brain before the sound formed on his tongue.

“It’s really late, you must be tired,” Victor reasoned softly. Yuuri tried to follow, but nothing could have helped him to predict that the next words from the other man would be, “I have a spare bedroom in my apartment, you’re welcome to use it.”

It took a good moment for Yuuri to ensure that he’d heard that right, but when he finally did, the urge to refrain from intruding was too strong to not protest the offer. “I can’t- You don’t have to- Are you- are you sure?”

“Of course! I couldn’t just strand you out here!”

Yuuri just stared at him, astonished at such generosity, and also still more than a little concerned about burdening Victor so much. At the same time, though, his options were so slim that denying the offer would be completely foolish. And so, swallowing his pride, he finally allowed himself to nod, and breathe out a soft, “Thank you, so much, Victor.”

Victor just smiled brightly at him for a moment, before walking back towards his car, with Yuuri trailing behind.

“Thank you, really, I can’t tell you that enough,” Yuuri insisted once more, the moment he was seated inside the warmth of the car again. The little words didn’t feel like quite nearly enough to convey just how immensely grateful he was. He wasn’t sure there really was anything he _could_ say to truly express that.

“It’s really no trouble, Yuuri,” Victor hummed, and Yuuri instantly felt his face light up at the way his voice wrapped so perfectly around his name. He immediately busied himself with staring out the window, hoping the color on his cheeks might go unnoticed.

The ride to Victor’s apartment was quiet again, with only the sounds of the soft music and the occasional interjection of a small comment from either of them. Yuuri didn’t mind much, as he could feel fatigue setting in now that the adrenaline from the crisis was beginning to wear off, so talking felt like a lot of effort anyway. 

His mind, though, seemed to get a different idea after a while, coming back to pester him with the little concerns from earlier. How he was going home with a _stranger_ — even if he knew his name now, he still didn’t really know a thing about him. He had no idea where he lived, where they were headed, or, his mind helpfully supplied, if those two were even really one and the same. He shook his head at just the thought, both not wanting to wander there, and also wanting to tell his brain that it _had_ to be wrong, that nothing about Victor seemed malicious in the slightest, that he had been nothing but kind and caring. Still, the idea berated him, nagging at the edges of his thoughts, making him start to question the very quietness that he had only moments earlier been thankful for. What if the silence was because Victor was hiding something? What would that something even be? His mind couldn’t even supply him with a specific possibility there, but it was happy to ruminate all the same. Even as the thoughts itched at him, though, he didn’t dare voice any of them, not wanting to insult Victor by questioning this enormous favor he was extending.

He was endlessly thankful when Victor’s announcement of their arrival was finally able to cut the thoughts off, and it suddenly registered that they were in a parking garage, with the car stopped. Somehow he’d been so zoned out that he’d missed them even entering a building.

The elevator trip up felt excruciatingly long, although Yuuri chalked that up to his anxiety, and being in an even more confined space with this man who was somehow both the very subject of his concerns, yet also still so overwhelmingly alluring. It was quite the messy cocktail of emotions, one that Yuuri really wanted nothing more than to just spill down the drain and sleep away.

At last, they made it to a narrow hallway, lined with half a dozen doors, the furthest of which Victor finally stopped at and pulled out a key. There was some kind of noise from within, almost like footsteps, and yet another fear struck Yuuri; not only was he about to spend the night in a stranger’s home, but now there were at least _two_ strangers, one of whom he hadn’t even seen yet, and-

And then the door was open and Yuuri was being knocked down into the hallway, sending a flash of panic through him before he realized just what had knocked him down.

A poodle. The second stranger was a poodle. Who was now sitting on top of Yuuri and licking his face.

“Makka! That isn’t how we greet our guests!” Victor chided the dog lightly, though he didn’t sound angry at all.

Yuuri could do little more than blink in bewilderment, trying to process all the new information that so forcefully knocked the worries from his mind. Something about the extraordinarily friendly poodle quickly set Yuuri so at ease, maybe because he was reminded of his family’s dog back home in Japan, maybe because it surely seemed that no one with a dog this sweet could be cruel, maybe because picturing this man he’d been so drawn to as a dog person was really a lovely image… he couldn’t be sure. All the same, he felt his face split into a wide grin, and his hands reach up, almost of their own accord, to card into the curly fur on the dog’s neck.

“I’m sorry she jumped on you like that, she just gets so excited to meet new people! I should have mentioned I have a dog, I hope you don’t mind, she’s very friendly,” Victor’s rambling suddenly burst into Yuuri’s thoughts, and when Yuuri craned his neck to look up at him, he almost thought he could see pink spilled across the bridge of his nose. That was probably just his imagination, though.

Instead of focusing on that possibility, he shook his head, still on the floor with no intentions of pushing the dog away to get up. “I love dogs,” he answered simply, ruffling her ears in emphasis.

“Oh!” came an excited little noise from Victor, as his entire face lit up like Yuuri had just told him the best news of his life. He was quickly kneeling on the floor then, reaching over to scratch at his dog’s side as well. “This is Makkachin, the most wonderful poodle in the whole world,” he supplied happily. Makkachin seemed to appreciate the compliment, and moved off of Yuuri to press herself to Victor.

“I think my family might have to challenge you on that, we have a toy poodle, and he’s pretty amazing,” Yuuri laughed, sitting up now that he could.

Victor let out a dramatic gasp, looking to Makkachin in exaggerated disbelief. “Can you believe that?” he asked her in a mock-scandalized tone. “He has the _nerve_ to doubt you!”

Yuuri joined the charade, clutching a hand to his chest, “You expect me _not_ to defend my own dog’s honor?”

Victor pursed his lips for a moment, like he was considering the excuse, before conceding, “Well, I suppose maybe they can tie. You’ll have to show me pictures though.”

Unthinking, Yuuri pulled his phone from his pocket, ready to dive into his folder full of every last dog photo in his possession, but when he pressed the button to light up the screen, a realization hit him right in the gut, knocking all the joy and ease he’d been feeling right out of him.

Victor seemed to quickly notice his change in expression, the smile on his face fading too. “Is something wrong?”

“It’s… my phone is dead,” Yuuri said, and he could feel that his voice was distant. The dead phone wasn’t really the deepest of his concerns; rather it was what it was indicative of that daunted him.

“Well, here! Come charge it!” Victor sounded happy once more, seeming to think that that was the whole solution to Yuuri’s problem. He rose to his feet, finally making his way into the apartment, gesturing for Yuuri to follow.

Yuuri, though, felt stuck to the floor, with a sinking feeling in his stomach. “I don’t have my charger…”

“I have extras, and it looks like we have the same phone, it’s no problem,” Victor offered easily.

“No, no, it’s not just…” A flash of a memory crossed Yuuri’s mind; that moment he’d first seen Victor’s headlights, and he’d frantically grabbed his coat from the passenger seat. He’d hardly noticed at the time, too focused on everything else, but the motion must have sent his bag tumbling to the floor, where it surely still was. He’d been too panicked about everything else to think to look in the car before it was towed off. “ _Everything_ is in my bag in the car… My clothes, my toothbrush…” Something about forgetting those few little things made him feel even more out of place than he already did, sitting in the doorway to a stranger’s home.

“I think I have some things you could borrow,” Victor didn’t even sound phased, offering his help so swiftly yet again.

The invitation was another shove to Yuuri’s emotions, sending them into some odd place between a soft feeling of security, and a swirling sense of guilt. He’d already taken up so much of Victor’s time, and now he was taking up space in his home, the thought of taking even the tiniest bit more felt so selfish…

But then Victor was reaching out to him, his hand outstretched just like it had been earlier, out in the dark and the cold when Yuuri’s mind had felt so utterly shattered by the car shutting down. And just like then, the little action was a glowing beacon of safety, extending through the murk of Yuuri’s thoughts and soothing his concerns. Even if this time it was simply to help him off the floor, even if the impending danger from out in the snow was no longer there, something about the gesture was just so assuasive that Yuuri couldn’t resist reaching up to take it, allowing himself to sink back into that feeling of ease.

On his feet again, he finally followed Victor past the threshold, stopping just inside to remove his shoes and jacket. He turned to see Victor doing the same, and had to hold in a breath as he watched his thick coat slip down his shoulders, revealing his lithe form beneath. Yuuri hadn’t even noticed before, with the bulky material concealing him, but now his eyes were drawn to the way Victor held himself, tall and strong, precise posture accentuating the toned lines of his body. Yuuri practically had to force himself to look away, staring at the ground and hoping his cheeks weren’t too suspiciously red.

Victor seemed to not even notice, though, quickly slipping into another room with a short, “Be right back.”

Yuuri busied himself with stooping to pet Makkachin some more, smiling at how she quickly pushed herself against him. She certainly played her part well in allowing Yuuri to feel comfortable here. Even when Victor returned, she still stuck by Yuuri’s side, only turning her head to look over at her owner and wag her tail.

“She really likes you,” Victor laughed lightly, coming up beside them.

When Yuuri looked back up to him, he saw that he had a small pile of things held to his chest. He stood to accept them when Victor held them out, clutching them carefully, as if they were much more fragile than a pair of pajamas, a toothbrush, and a phone charger should be. Something in him held the gesture behind the items on such a high pedestal of importance that they just seemed so delicate.

“I don’t even know how to tell you how thankful I am, Victor,” Yuuri spoke softly, reverently. “You’ve been so endlessly kind to me, I don’t know what I’d even be doing now if you hadn’t come along.”

Victor gave him a small but warm smile, one that Yuuri thought he might just melt for. “I’m glad I came at the right time to help you.”

They stood quietly for just a moment, eyes softly on one another, until a tiny yawn escaped Victor’s lips.

“Should probably sleep,” he said with the slightest laugh, a bit of pink blooming on his nose. Yuuri was sure of it that time, and hoped his own face didn’t try to match it as he considered how _cute_ it was. “The guest room is there,” Victor gestured to a door behind Yuuri, “it should be all set up, but if you need anything else, come tell me quickly. I’m not much of a night owl, so I’ll be out fast. I can’t even remember the last time I was awake this late.”

Yuuri felt his lips curl up at that, a warm feeling being sent through him at how that little bit of information just added even more to the amplitude of Victor’s courtesy. “Goodnight, Victor,” he murmured with a short nod. “Thank you, again.”

“Goodnight, Yuuri,” Victor breathed in turn, sending Yuuri’s heart thumping at the soft sound of his name in that _gorgeous_ voice.

And then Victor was retreating, Makkachin in tow, back to the room he’d gone in before. Yuuri found his way to the guest room, taking in the sleek look of the whole apartment on his way. It wasn’t anything ridiculously gigantic, but everything in it looked quite refined, and much like Victor’s car, it set Yuuri wondering so much about him. He couldn’t have been much different in age from Yuuri, and yet his life seemed so much more elegant than Yuuri’s own.

He settled into the guest room, which consisted of mostly just a large bed in the center, as well as the door to a small bathroom off to the side. The bed was made perfectly, despite Victor not having entered the room since Yuuri had arrived. It made his curiosity consider whether Victor might frequently entertain guests and always need the room ready, or if just the opposite was true, and this room had sat unused for ages. Yuuri really needed to rein his mind in, get it to stop wandering, or else he might never find sleep, but the longer he spent in this man’s space and in his presence, the more he wanted to know about him.

Doing his best to shake the stray thoughts, he slipped into the borrowed pajamas, before folding his own clothes and setting them on the small nightstand beside the bed. They were quite cozy — a pair of grey, flannel pants, and a soft, brown henley, both of them perfectly warm for the freezing night. He had to cuff the pants to avoid tripping on the bottoms of them, and he moved to cuff the sleeves, but then caught himself in the mirror on the door, and watched as his face turned bright red. Something about seeing himself in someone else’s pajamas — someone _ridiculously attractive_ — instantly did so many things to his mind. It was obvious from just the sight that these belonged to someone else, with the way the shirt was just big enough that the neckline slipped down his shoulder and the sleeves covered all but his fingers, and how even with the pants cuffed, they nearly brushed the ground. He knew it was silly to let his mind run wild with the sight, but he just couldn’t help how warm the thoughts made him feel. He was leaving the sleeves un-cuffed, he decided then, too fond of the way they looked to move them.

After brushing his teeth, he finally crawled into the bed, only realizing once he was lying down just how bone-tired he was. He reveled in the way the heavy comforter pushed down on him so that he sunk into the soft mattress, making him feel like he was enveloped in a warm cloud. As his eyes began to droop, he watched the snow falling distantly beyond the window, blurry without his glasses, but pretty and bright from the way the streetlights illuminated it from below. Tucked into a bed now, all safe and warm, he could finally appreciate how lovely the sight really was.

He was on the very brink of sleep at the moment when a loud _slam!_ sounded on his door, sending him jumping bolt upright, his heart absolutely hammering in his ribcage. Worries from before flooded back into his mind, of how he really didn’t know a thing about Victor, about how coming into a stranger’s home was surely the worst decision he could have made, about how he shouldn’t have let his guard down so quickly… Even if he had _seemed_ nice, how could Yuuri really know what Victor’s intentions were? Their conversations had all been so brief!

His thoughts flooded the silence for a while, pounding along with the blood that rushed by his ears. He was only interrupted when an insistent scratching started at the door, but that did nothing at all to lower his concerns.

For a moment, he considered his options. There really was no escape route. He hadn’t paid attention to which button Victor had pressed in the elevator, but he knew this apartment had to be on a high floor, so escaping out the window was not possible. He could hide in the bathroom, he supposed, but that would likely only corner himself more if he did need to escape somehow. He could bury under the covers, though that wouldn’t really do much more than staying how he already was.

As the scratching continued, and Yuuri clutched the comforter close to his chest, something finally occurred to him. If Victor wanted to come in, there was absolutely nothing stopping him. Yuuri hadn’t bothered locking the door, but even if he had, Victor _lived_ here, surely he had a key. So why would he feel the need to scratch at the door? Was it just to scare Yuuri? Or maybe…

A new realization came suddenly, and when its likelihood seemed too high to be beat, Yuuri felt his shoulders fall in relief. He crept out of the bed, over to the door, pleading with the universe for just a short moment that he would be _right_ , before twisting the door handle, and instantly being greeted by an excited ball of fluff.

“You scared the hell out of me,” he whisper-laughed, reaching down to pet at Makkachin’s head. She stared up at him with big innocent eyes and wagged her tail for a moment, then strode right past him, hopping up onto the bed. Seeing her there, eagerly waiting for Yuuri to come back and join her, he could hardly believe all the terrified thoughts that had just been making his mind swim. It was incredible the things that his anxiety could come up with when it teamed up with exhaustion.

He headed back to bed then, leaving the door open this time in case Makkachin decided she wanted to leave at some point, so he would have no more terrifying awakenings. The moment he laid down, she was pressed up beside him, and Yuuri was surprised by the feeling of her being nearly his height, when so many years of sleeping with a toy-sized poodle had become his standard for dog snuggling. She felt wonderful, though, both as an extra source of warmth, as well as a comfort with her cuddling. In no time, he was slipping into sleep, for real this time, with no frightening interruptions to lead him astray.

Morning came quickly, the bright light streaming through the window gradually waking up Yuuri’s senses first, then his whole body. Makkachin was still there, lying belly up and snoring softly, and Yuuri was surprised to realize she had spent the whole night with him. Victor apparently had known what he’d been talking about when he’d said she really liked him.

As much as it was tempting to continue to lie in bed, soaking in the warmth of the sun and maybe even drifting off some more, Yuuri knew it would be rude to just hole up in the room and not even go out to see the person who had so graciously opened his home to him. So he sat up slowly, stretching briefly and marveling again at the look of the oversized sleeves covering his palms. Somehow that bit of the previous night almost felt like it had to have been a dream, but here in the light of day, with the soft fabric brushing at his arms as he shifted them, it was quite obvious that he couldn’t have just imagined it.

He made his way from the bedroom, promptly hearing Makkachin _thump_ to the ground behind him, and wandered out to the main area of the apartment with her by his side. Before he’d even made it past the door, he was hit by a sweet scent, like sugar heating, and it drew him quickly to the kitchen. There, he found Victor focused on a pan that he could hear oil popping in, humming softly to himself. Yuuri almost felt like he might start drooling as the smell became stronger, and he was reminded that he hadn’t eaten a thing since before he’d begun his drive the previous evening. All at once, his body recognized how _starving_ it was, and before he could so much as find the words to greet Victor, his stomach rumbled with a growl so loud that Victor jumped around in surprise.

“Well, good morning to you, too,” he laughed, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he smiled widely. “I see you’ve decided to return my dog, I can’t believe you would just _steal_ her like that,” he added with a playful lilt in his voice.

“Hi,” Yuuri mumbled, looking to the ground quickly to try and hide the blush he felt lighting up his entire face. This certainly had not been the first impression he’d wanted to leave on Victor for the day.

“I don’t suppose you’d like some breakfast?” Victor teased, turning back around to attend to the food in the pan once more.

“You really don’t have to make me anything, you’ve already done so much…” Yuuri tried to brush off the offer, not wanting to intrude any more than he already had, no matter how good this food smelled, or how warm it made him feel to think about how much trouble Victor had gone to just for him.

Victor just waved his hand in dismissal, though. “Nonsense, you’re my guest! And there’s no way I can eat all these alone! My choreographer would throw a fit if she knew I was making these at all, but that can be our little secret.”

That had Yuuri giggling, and finally giving in. “Okay, okay! They _do_ smell really good, what are they?”

“Syrniki!” Victor explained excitedly, waving his hand in invitation for Yuuri to look into the pan. There were several little lumps of dough, sizzling in the oil and quickly becoming golden pancakes. “I don’t suppose you’ve been in Russia long enough to try them?”

Yuuri shook his head, “I was only here for the weekend, there was a music conference one of my professors wanted me to attend. I just ate whatever the hotel offered in the mornings, they never served these.”

“Well, maybe it was fate that you wound up here, just so you could have one more chance to try the most delicious Russian breakfast there is,” Victor grinned.

Yuuri just nodded in response, watching as Victor prodded and flipped the cakes while they cooked. Quickly enough, he was piling them onto a big serving plate, and carrying it over to his kitchen table, where he’d already laid out some dishes with berries, jam, and cream. Victor insisted that Yuuri sit while he finished frying the last few, claiming that he couldn’t make his guest do the work. Yuuri wanted to counter that he hardly qualified as a _guest_ , that helping would be the least he could do to repay all of Victor’s kindness, but it didn’t seem that Victor wanted to budge on the subject, so Yuuri conceded.

Soon, the remaining syrniki were cooked, and then Victor was seated across from Yuuri, watching eagerly as he awaited seeing Yuuri take his first bite. It felt a little odd being watched like that, but it was also kind of adorable how excited Victor was to watch Yuuri try his cooking. He seemed so much more excitable than he had the night before, probably because he’d gotten sleep now, and Yuuri had to try very hard not to blush over how cute that excitement made him.

He took a few of the syrniki onto his own small plate, dolloping some of the cream and jam on top along with a few berries, at Victor’s insistence. They really did look delicious, and a good bit more indulgent than anything Yuuri would typically eat for breakfast. He cut a little bite with his fork, making sure to get all the toppings with it, and finally brought it to his lips, and then he felt his eyes shoot open as the flavors burst on his tongue. The pancake itself had the most delicate, crisp outside, quickly giving way to a fluffy center, with just a hint of sweetness coming through. The combination of cream and berry flavors on top added the perfect notes of sour and sweet, mixing so deliciously with the mild taste of the cake.

“ _Wow_ ,” he whispered in astonishment once he’d finished the bite, before immediately digging in for more.

Victor beamed widely at the breathy little comment, seeming quite pleased with that reaction. “I told you, _fate_ ,” he offered with a shrug, before finally beginning to eat his own breakfast.

There wasn’t much talking as they ate, both of them too focused on the food to bother with words. Once they were done, though, Yuuri insisted on washing the dishes, claiming that he couldn’t allow Victor to do a single other thing for him. Victor managed to negotiate at least drying them and putting them away, and Yuuri supposed he couldn’t argue when it was Victor’s own home and he would be the one to know where things belonged.

As they cleaned up, they slowly faded into a casual conversation, picking up where they’d left when Yuuri had explained his reason for being in Russia.

“So you said you were at a music conference? Are you a musician?” Victor asked, a curious glint in his eyes.

Yuuri nodded, providing, “I’m studying piano, for my master’s, at the conservatory in Helsinki.”

“That’s amazing!” Victor gasped. “I love piano! I learned a bit for school when I was younger, though I do have to admit, I haven’t touched it in years. I still love to listen, though, it’s such a beautiful instrument. I’d love to hear something you’ve played!”

Yuuri felt himself blush at Victor’s eagerness, and tried his best to turn his face to hide it. “Thank you,” he murmured, sure the smile was evident in his voice, “I’ll have to show you when we’re done with these.” Something about Victor quickly taking so much interest in his studies sent such warm and fuzzy feelings through him.

“Wait, you said Helsinki? Is that where you were trying to drive to last night?” Victor’s voice suddenly switched to one of concern, and Yuuri turned to see his brow creased. “That’s such a long drive! And in a blizzard that bad?”

“Yeah,” Yuuri shrugged, “like I said, I thought it might save me having to plan for another night in a hotel. Wasn’t expecting to have to deal with a broken down car.”

Victor just shook his head in disbelief, sighing, “Well, I’m glad you didn’t have to worry about the hotel in the end, at least.”

“Thank you for that, really, I can’t tell you that enough,” Yuuri told him for the umpteenth time, not sure when it would ever feel like he had said it enough to properly express the true magnitude with which he felt the gratitude.

“I’m happy to have helped you, _really_ ,” Victor replied warmly, sending Yuuri the softest smile.

They fell into a comfortable quiet as they finished the dishes, until Yuuri thought to ask Victor to call the repair shop to ask about the state of his car. As much as he was growing more and more fond of Victor, he knew he couldn’t overstay his welcome, and he would need to be back for classes the following day regardless. After a short phone call, Victor reported that the car was nearly fixed already and would be all set in about two hours. As relieved as Yuuri was to know that there would not be any more issues with the car and that that particular nightmare was over, he was hit suddenly with just how disappointing the idea that he only had two hours left to spend with Victor was.

The night before, Yuuri could remember trying to tell himself that there was no way Victor might return the warm feelings Yuuri was having towards him so quickly, but now, watching the way Victor’s face almost fell when he informed Yuuri of how little time they had left together, he thought that perhaps he could finally allow his brain to be just a little hopeful.

Moping about the lack of time would obviously do no good, though, and Yuuri was very glad when Victor quickly switched the topic to remind Yuuri of how he’d promised to show him his piano videos. They wound up pressed together on Victor’s sofa, maybe a bit too close for two people who had only just met, but if Yuuri could get this with just the excuse of trying to both see his tiny phone screen, he would certainly take it.

Victor praised his music brightly, sending a hot blush spilling across Yuuri’s face with each word. Every compliment felt electric as Victor spoke them right beside his ear, still pressed close to watch the little screen, even if Yuuri really didn’t know what there was to _see_. He definitely wasn’t going to ask him to _stop_ , though.

The most surprising comment Victor made, though, was when he told Yuuri that he would absolutely love to dance to his music. Yuuri supposed that he had recognized the way Victor carried himself, so perfectly tall and poised, and that something in the deep memories of his mind had recognized that as a dancer’s posture, from all his childhood lessons with Minako, but until Victor said it, he hadn’t managed to connect the dots. He’d been too caught up in staring at the way it made Victor look so captivating to consider what it meant.

With this new information, though, Yuuri immediately had to insist that Victor show him some of his own performances. He’d shown him his own, so it was really only fair, he reasoned. Victor was happy to comply, pulling out his own phone to bring up a video in which he was wearing a thin tank top and the most outrageously tight pair of leggings Yuuri had ever seen, but he hardly had time to even focus on that before on-screen Victor leapt into a performance that simply stole his breath away. His whole body moved so swiftly and fluidly, in perfect time with a melancholy opera piece, as if the very passion in the singer’s voice were pouring straight from Victor’s every limb. He was _stunning_ , the way his entire body carried the sense of longing the song seemed to cry out, the way he moved so effortlessly, the way he ended with an arm stretched outward, reaching, _longing_. Yuuri felt himself clutching a hand to his chest, and the prickling start of tears in the corners of his eyes, utterly entranced.

“I don’t even have a video with the costume on yet,” Victor spoke with a nervous little laugh, “that was just a practice run a few days ago. It’s getting close, though! Just needs a few more touches. The show is in a few weeks.” He flipped through his photos then to show Yuuri an image of himself in a princely costume, bright pink with gold embellishments and a glittering starscape of tiny crystals. Yuuri could only imagine how much more gorgeous it would look with Victor up on a stage and a bright spotlight aimed directly at him.

“That was _gorgeous_ , Victor,” Yuuri breathed out in a hushed reverence. Speaking too loudly felt like it would shatter something.

Victor beamed brightly at the praise, pouring into more information about the story behind the performance, and Yuuri hung on closely to every word.

Their conversation flowed easily, each of them speaking about how they first began their particular interests, Yuuri adding in how he actually used to dance quite often as a child, though he really only did it occasionally anymore. Victor was in awe of the fact that he’d ever even _met_ Minako Okukawa, before Yuuri clarified that he hadn’t simply _met_ her, rather, she was practically family, and the one who had taught him everything he knew. That left Victor just about speechless.

By the time that the alert Yuuri had set on his phone went off, telling him he needed to leave to get the car soon, it scarcely felt like time had even passed. It was amazing to think that he had been so nervous the night before, afraid of what this man was really like, when now, in the light of day, the idea that he had to _stop_ talking to him was nearly as frightening.

Resignedly, he pulled out his phone, starting to look at his ride-share app, but before he even had time to see how much a ride to the repair shop might cost him, Victor was reaching out to touch his wrist, in an attempt to get Yuuri to look away from the screen.

“You don’t think after all this that I’m not driving you to get your car, do you?”

Yuuri gave him a sheepish smile in return, not knowing whether to feel more guilty over imposing on Victor yet again, or over Victor catching him trying to find a way not to do that. He supposed that he really couldn’t deny either of them that tiny little bit more of conversation time that a shared car ride would give them.

After changing back into his own clothes from the previous night, and returning the borrowed pajamas to Victor, and perhaps a hundred more _thank yous_ , Yuuri found himself saying his goodbyes to Makkachin, feeling more bittersweet than he’d realized he would at the prospect of leaving her behind. The instantaneous ease she’d provided him in all his worry had made him grow so quickly fond of her, and she obviously felt the same. Yuuri tried very hard not to get too caught up in how sad he was to leave a dog he’d only just met some ten hours ago, making himself follow Victor down the hallway to the elevator.

The drive to the shop was a little quieter than their living room conversation had been, though still nothing quite as sleepy and scared as the night before. This time, the tension that was there came from the looming sense of an end, rather than the unsure future that had been at the forefront of Yuuri’s mind in the night. He pondered how odd it was that he already felt so _attached_ , after just a few simple interactions. Everything about Victor had just been so alluring, from the very moment Yuuri had laid eyes on him, and then his unending kindness had simply thrown all those feelings right off the deep end. Yuuri knew he would not be forgetting him and time soon.

They arrived all too soon, to the news that Yuuri’s car was completely fixed and ready to go. Just last night, the mere concept would have sounded like excellent news, but that had been before Yuuri had any reason to _not_ want to make it out of Russia as soon as possible. Now, it was that looming end fully manifested.

He and Victor found themselves standing beside the newly fixed car, and if Yuuri’s own feelings were anything to judge by, he had to guess that Victor was as equally at a loss for words as he was.

“Well-” Victor started, at the same moment Yuuri finally found the words to speak.

“ _Thank you_ ,” he emphasized yet again, hoping the phrase wasn’t yet losing meaning.

“It really was no problem at all, meeting you has been such a pleasure, Yuuri,” Victor smiled at him, some of that warmth from before still there, but tinged with a bit of sadness that had crept in somewhere along the way, probably at the prospect of Yuuri’s departure.

Yuuri shook his head, though. “I still feel like I need to do _something_ to repay you for all this, you really saved me,” he sighed, frustrated at not even knowing what that _something_ could possibly be.

“Well,” Victor grinned suddenly, like something brilliant had just occurred to him, “if you’re _so_ insistent, I might have an idea of what you could do.”

Yuuri looked at him curiously, “What’s that?”

“Maybe you could give me your number?” Victor intoned, quickly adding, “You know, just in case you ever find yourself in Piter again? I’m sure you could find a way to repay me by then…” The smirk on his face was impossible for Yuuri to deny, and the meaning that it gave to his words…

Yuuri just nodded rapidly, not trusting himself to manage words as his mind spun in the most excited circles as he tried to accept that Victor was actually _flirting_ with him. Victor handed him his phone, that _ridiculously_ charming grin still spread across his face, and Yuuri hurriedly typed his digits into a new contact before giving it back. He watched Victor tap a few things, before his own phone vibrated, the screen lighting up with an adorable photo of Makkachin.

“I guess I’ll be seeing you then?” Victor asked him softly, his smile turning back to something just sweet and warm, the coy teasing fading out.

“I guess so,” Yuuri breathed out, feeling his own giddy smile growing.

“Bye, Yuuri,” Victor said with a wave, slowly backing towards his own car, seeming to not yet want to take his eyes away.

“Goodbye, Victor,” Yuuri called quietly, raising his own hand in parting as well.

He watched him go, unable to move from his spot until Victor’s car disappeared around a corner, and even then, he stood blinking for another moment, trying to process all that had just transpired.

Once he had slipped back into the driver’s seat, he stared down at his phone, at the number so new he had yet to make it a contact, at the picture of the dog he’d been so heartbroken to leave, at the space where he could continue that conversation he’d been so dreading the end of.

The remainder of his drive back to Helsinki went miraculously better than its first leg, the cleared roads and bright sunlight probably helping just a bit. He spent the whole time thinking of what he could say to Victor when he was finally able to look at his phone again, what he might be able to do in order to thank him. The idea finally struck him just as he finally pulled up to the tall building that housed his dorm; a short little question that he hoped might lead to being able to make good on his promise of seeing Victor again.

_Where did you say you were dancing again?_

(It took little time at all to look back fondly upon what had once seemed like such a horrid disaster, when it would lead to his next few weeks consisting of texting that number incessantly, and then a fantastically exciting night watching the most amazing ballet performance he’d ever seen, followed by taking the company’s principal dancer out to a thank-you dinner that was possibly also a date, and a night of cuddling that this time involved both a poodle _and_ a not-so-stranger. And those weeks were only just the start.)

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! if you'd like to keep up with me, you can find me here on [tumblr](https://opalescentlesbiian.tumblr.com/) and [twitter](https://twitter.com/opallesbiian)!
> 
> ( _also_ wanna send special thanks to jam for talking me through the part i'd looked at so many times i couldn't tell what was even going on anymore. your kind words were really what i needed to find my way through this fic <3)


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